Passenger conveyors are in widespread use to transport a passenger from one destination to another destination rapidly. For example, elevators carry passengers vertically within a building, while escalators have been designed to get a passenger from one level to another level more expediently than climbing stairs. Even moving walkways have accelerated the process of walking by more expediently getting a passenger horizontally from one position to another position. Passenger conveyors are commonly installed in publicly used areas such as office buildings, airports, and shopping centers, for example.
Although passenger conveyors have brought convenience in public areas by transporting numerous passengers from one destination to another destination rapidly, passenger conveyors require constant maintenance. Certain circumstances during either proper usage, such as maintenance for normal wear-and-tear, or improper usage, such as an accident, may cause the stop of a passenger conveyor.
In addition, passenger conveyors may also be required to operate in compliance with stringent safety codes and regulations. For example, safety devices must be provided and equipped to ensure that there are no passengers present before sending a control signal to the control unit of the passenger conveyor. Therefore, safety devices must be certified to fulfill code requirements and regulations. Such certified safety devices are expensive, limited to one unit only, and cannot easily be updated to comply with changing passenger conveyor conditions.
Therefore, a need for a universal, upgradable, and cost efficient safety control device/system for passenger conveyors still remains.